Hundreds of printed posters have spread across the city, asking students to vote for one candidate or another in the upcoming Delhi University students’ union elections.
Their presence flies in the face of the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines that govern the polls.
According to the
guidelines, candidates and parties are not allowed to distribute printed posters for campaigning. Photocopies of handmade posters are not allowed either. Using printed posters can result in disqualification of candidates.

And yet all nooks and crannies in and around DU colleges are filled with printed posters.

The posters have been put up by candidates of both the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP) — the two biggest student parties in the varsity.

The All India Students’ Association (AISA), a rival party that has a stranglehold on JNU, has complained against the use of printed posters in DU.

“We have been telling the authorities about it and we also met the chief election officer (CEO) on Wednesday and handed over the posters to him,” said Sunny Kumar, member, AISA.

The authorities, after ignoring the blatant violation of rules for days, have finally decided to take suo motu cognisance of the violation.

“I have issued a show-cause notice to all eight candidates from ABVP and NSUI. Action can also be taken against candidates after the elections are over,” said Ashok Vohra, CEO.

THE NOTICE

If candidates are found guilty of flouting Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, they are liable to be disqualified. The time frame for inquiries into the allegations is small.

According to Vohra, action can also be taken after elections. This would mean that the students’ union will lose their office bearers if candidates from NSUI or ABVP win.